1 . Every Saturday morning Phoenix Young would take piano lessons with a family friend when he was a child. “At that time we would_______around and take all morning just to have a lesson,” Phoenix_______. “And I loved it.”

But when Phoenix was 12, his teacher proposed that he need better_______.So his mother took him to a music school in the Bronx, and signed him up for classes with a teacher named Bade Simon, experienced bit known for being _______. And she quickly lived up to that _______.Phoenix found the stressful life was_______like his lighthearted Saturday mornings with his former teacher, so it wasn’t long before he_______that he would quit.

One day, however, Bade_______him and said something surprising: “I have_______in you. Keep going. Then the reluctant (不情愿的) student did something surprising ________: he said, “Okay.”

“It was as if all I wanted was just a________from her that she cared about me,” Phoenix said.

That moment________their relationship. Within a few weeks, they were having________during lessons. And within a few months, she was teaching him things about music that he’d never known before. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.

“I went into________and became a piano teacher, a career I have been doing for 50 years,” Phoenix said. “And I ________it all to that precious moment with my unsung hero, Bade Simon.”

3 . With Christmas approaching, I often reflect upon one particular evening in the early 1960s. Back then, we decided to go carolling (唱圣诞颂歌) to spread the Christmas spirit which might ________ someone else’s life. So we needed to take ________ new members, for whom the only ________ was warmth of spirit.

Soon we discovered that carolling brought various ________. Sometimes we were greeted with open doors and open hearts, while other times, folks remained in the safety and cosiness of their homes, watching ________ through their windows.

One stop on our journey particularly ________ our memory. That night, after a couple of songs, one door swung open. A gentleman, gray haired, tenderly ________we go upstairs to sing for his bedridden wife. He added ________, “She loves music and used to be an opera singer.”

We stepped briskly upward into the couple’s ________ apartment. Books, records, and antique furniture whispered stories to us. I reminded myself not to stare ________ showing disrespect to them.

Sitting beside his wife, the gentleman gave us a ________. Then our voices rose and lingered around their small home. Had our voices been given extra ________ and beauty for this occasion? Perhaps they had.

A smile flickered on the woman’s ________, yet beautiful face. She snuggled her head against her husband’s shoulder and both of them heartily enjoyed our performance. Witnessing such a heartwarming scene, we felt it was a holy night, for we were in the ________ of love that was gentle and mild.

At that moment, we found, and maybe even _______, the Christmas spirit.

4 . Before I started high school my parents gave me the greatest gift any teenage boy could ask for: a cell phone. I______ that phone all summer. To me, being connected was more important than being present. So, you can imagine my ______ when I learned what my dad had ______ for my family vacation that year. “This year,” my dad said, “We are going camping!” His excitement was met with a disappointing sigh（叹气）. ______, he wasn’t upset.

The views during the trip were amazing, but none of those mattered to me. My mind was on my phone. I remembered the first time I looked up was for something shocking—my phone had no service. My dad said that it would be ______ until we returned home. I would be ______ in the forest for four days with no way to contact the outside world. I went to bed angry that night. But something ______ when I awoke in the morning. ______ immediately burying my head in my phone, I ______ something else: my surroundings. As my dad and I walked the trails（小路），I felt the weight of tons of stress off my shoulders.

I realized being ______ to nature made me focus more on myself. I let my mind speak to me and listened to my feelings. I had been so focused on staying connected that I hadn’t been hearing my own ______. That was 15 years ago, and I carry that ______ to this day. When I received my first work email. I ______ the reason why my dad chose a campsite with no access to technology. In a world that asks for more connectivity, the need to check up your cell phone becomes stronger. Having my own time is nearly ______ when I can be ______ at any time of day or night. So, I need to work harder.

Whenever I feel my inner self is slipping away, I follow my dad’s guidance. I pack up the tent and drive until my phone shows those two magic words: “no service”.

7 . Two weeks earlier, my husband, Russ, had gotten an early-morning call telling us to move to a safer place immediately. The wildfire tearing through Northern California had spread and _______ our way.

We’d jumped in the car with our cats and a few belongings. For days, we’d _______ from hotel to hotel, desperate for news. What finally came wasn’t _______. Our house had been right in the fire’s path.

Now we’d been given _______ to return. I wasn’t prepared for what awaited us. Our house was nothing but_______. Photos and my precious collection of inspirational books — all gone, I wiped away tears as we dug through the ash (灰) and debris (残骸). How will we _______ this?

How will we go on? It felt as if our lives had been_______.

Russ _______what we’d found into the car. “Let’s go, ”he said. I turned to get in the car. That’s when I noticed something stuck to my shoe. A piece of paper, dirty with _______. I picked it up. Its edges were________, yet the words were surprisingly ________ : “If life seems difficult, I pause and________the blessing sometimes hidden within every circumstance. With new ________I begin again. ”

Words that must have come from one of my books, a passage I couldn’t ________ but now said everything I needed to ________. Words that rose from the ashes. I framed that scrap of paper. It now sits in a place of honor in our new home, a reminder that we can begin again.

8 . On my way back home I was stopped at a traffic light by some people who asked for help. A woman - in her ______ to give way to an ambulance - had driven her car ______ stony obstacles that separate the bike line from the street,   and had gotten her car ______ as a result. She couldn’t ______ the car in any direction without damaging it. A couple of people tried to ______ the car hack but the obstacles were too high. Seeing that they couldn’t do much about it, they left and the woman in the car tried to call the police for help.

While watching the other people leave the woman alone, I ______ how hopeless I would be if I were in her position. I wasn’t in a ______, so I told my family about the ______and that I would be late. And then I tried to ______the woman who seemed to feel ______ about causing trouble for others. But in fact it wasn’t too much trouble since there was enough ______ for others to pass by.

Finally the police came to ______ . She thanked the police and me and asked for my phone number so she could ______ my kindness, but I told her it was okay. She seemed to feel much better when we ______ . I believe that helping those who are in a difficult situation can make a big ______.

9 . When Arfel Condova-Rojas was biking to Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge last November, she planned to go bird-watching. Bingo! A mile into her walk, she saw a female _________ near the water’s edge. Cordova-Rojas had worked at a wild bird rehab (康复) center and _________ that swans can be aggressive. But as she approached this time, it didn’t _________. She was certain that the bird needed _________ attention. Cordova-Rojas put her jacket over the bird’s head to keep it calm, _________ picked it up and held it in her arms. And then a thought _________ her: What should I do now?

Her best _________ was the rehab center, but that was on the other side of town. How was she going to transport a 17-pound swan on her _________ all that way? Luckily, some _________ driving by offered her, her bike and the swan a (n) __________ to the rehab center.

Staff members at the rehab center __________ that the swan might have lead (铅) poisoning. They got the swan back up on her feet. __________, the swan had a bacterial infection. Two months after Cordova-Rojas came to her __________, she passed away.

It’s a (n)__________ ending, but the story shows just how far people are willing to go to __________ animals.